CYPRUS LEAGUE – GW2 REVIEW

Aris 1-0 Omonoia 29M

Georgi Kvilitaia marked his home debut for Aris Limassol by scoring a 77^th minute winner against Omonoia 29M. The Georgian striker, who moved from champions APOEL in the summer, rose highest to meet Karol Struski’s floated corner.

Aris had struggled to create many clear cut opportunities as newly promoted Omonoia 29M defended deep, hoping to hit the home side on the counter.

The 1-0 victory made it two wins in a row for the 2022/2023 champions, who gave a debut to summer signing Connor Goldson.

Anorthosis 1-2 Apollon

Apollon bounced back from their opening day defeat against AEK with an impressive victory at the Antonis Papadopoulos stadium.

Pedro Marques rifled in Apollon’s opener in the 41^st minute before some sloppy Anorthosis defending led to Jaromir Zmrhal side footing past Zivkovic from the edge of the box.

Rafa Lopes pulled one back for Anorthosis in the 55^th minute, heading in from 6 yards but Apollon held on for a well earned victory. This came at a cost as captain Chambos Kyriakou came off injured.

Paralimni 0-1 Karmiotissa

A 78^th minute Stojanovic penalty was enough to give Karmiotissa their first victory of the season, in a dominant performance at the Tasos Markou stadium.

Stojanovic, who came off the bench in the 67^th minute, won the penalty after his header struck the arm of Paralimni defender Edson Silva.

AEL 1-0 Omonoia Aradippou

Chris Coleman’s AEL maintained their 100% start to the season with a hard fought victory over newly promoted Omonoia Aradippou.

AEL missed opportunities to take a first half lead when Mamas, Trickovski, Makris, Lesovoi and Toku failed to hit the back of the net.

The hosts continued to put pressure on the Aradippou goal and eventually took the lead through loan signing Daniil Lesovoy.

Omonoia Aradippou rarely threatened Silva Braga in the AEL goal and should have been a man down after a wreckless challenge by Sana Gomes on AEL midfielder Toku wasn’t punished with a red card.

APOEL 1-3 Ethnikos Achnas

APOEL’s disastrous start to the season continued after a shock defeat at the hands of Ethnikos Achnas. The champions, who were knocked out of the Europa League in midweek at the hands of Latvian side RFK, endured a torrid time against David Badia’s Ethnikos

Bonetto and Andereggen capitalised on some nervy APOEL defending as the visitors raced into a 2-0 lead by the 33^rd minute.

APOEL stepped up a gear in the second half and pulled a goal back through Romanian midfielder Corbu, but it was to no avail as more terrible defending led to a third Ethnikos goal when Andereggen broke through to put the game beyond Jose Dominguez’s men’s reach.

Nea Salamina 2-3 Omonoia

A brace from Polish striker Mariusz Stepinski completed a comeback victory for Omonoia and put them top of the table.

Willy Semedo gave the visitors the lead before goals from Papageorgiou and debutant Apostolos Vellios put Nea Salamina 2-1 up at the break.

Omonoia dominated the second half and the pressure paid off when Stepinski levelled in the 83^rd minute with a brave header at the back post. Four minutes later the comeback was complete when the Pole volleyed in a cross from Serbian midfielder Simic.

AEK 0-2 Pafos

Pafos began their campaign with a comfortable victory at the AEK Arena, thanks to two goals either side of half time from Brazilians Jairo and Anderson Silva.